By Reading This, You Are Stating That You Are 18 Years Of Age. If You Are Under The Age Of 18, It Is Necessary To Exit This Site.

Breathe Again

BY

Kamy Chetty

EXCERPT

“So are we done with timeout, or should I stand to attention and say, 'Permission to speak, sir'?” Skylar asked one afternoon after deciding she'd had enough.

Fair enough, she made a mistake. Deserved punishment. But this was like marshal law. She was not a Marine.

Nick stopped momentarily from doing push-ups in the lounge. Then, as if realizing she could wait, he continued with his routine workout.

Putting down the book she was reading, she pulled herself up. “How long are you going to ignore me?”

He did a few more push-ups, then lifted himself off the floor. He took the towel from the settee and wiped the sweat off his face.

“Nick?” she persisted.

The muscles in his neck tensed. Hell, she knew he was in there somewhere. All she needed was a reaction. Something to say he was still here.

He sighed before turning to her. “You betrayed my trust. The one thing I asked for, the one thing.”

“I'm sorry. Like I said, I never knew you felt so strongly about being a dad. I never understood. Maybe if you’d explained it to me—” She knew this was grasping straws time.

His laugh couldn’t hide his hurt. “When the time was right, I would have told you.”

“Can you tell me now?” Her throat constricted. Her eyes burned. “Can you tell me now why there had to be a deal-breaker in the first place? Most marriages don’t have that. Not if two people love each other.” Her voice softened.

His silence was a painful reminder of the lie still between them.

His jaw was a solid mass. “You can’t put this on me. You lied. I joined the Marines to get away from the lies and betrayal. Because if you don’t trust the man next to you, you lose your life.”

Skylar folded her arms, making sure she shielded her unborn child. If Nick had physically used a knife to slit her open and take her insides out and put her back together in the wrong order, it would feel like this. Exactly like this. There was no way out of this. No way back.

It was time to make the decision, do what she knew was right. Only she still needed time. “I have an afternoon shift, so I'll see you later.”

He took his towel and wiped his neck. “I'm on nights, so probably not.”

She didn't bother to respond. Grabbing her jacket, she made her way out.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

If she thought this would work, then she was stupid and then some. She put a hand over her tummy and sighed. The only problem was, it wasn't only her this time.

After a tour at war and countless shifts in the hospital emergency room, Nick knows that no matter how hard he tries to change things, people are the same. So when his estranged wife Skylar reveals that she stopped taking birth control and is pregnant, he shouldn’t be shocked. Betrayal burns and panic sets in as memories of his shattered home life remind him that he can’t play happy families.

Skylar knows one thing—she’s head over nurse’s shoes in love with the stubborn and unemotional Nick. She loves him enough to believe in the man he is, even though he can’t see it for himself and hides behind a mask. As he calls their child “hers” and tries to live apart from her, Skylar’s heart breaks, but she refuses to give up hope that he’ll do the right thing.

When disaster strikes, Skylar realizes Nick might never change, so she risks everything and sets him free, hoping he’ll come back, for her and their baby. Is heat, passion and a vow enough to seal this marriage and make them a family?

Reader Alert!

Their passion and devotion will make you root for them, and their sexual tension will set you ablaze.

To My Readers:

I am the hopeless romantic who believes there is someone out there for everyone. No matter who you are or how old you are, or what’s happened in your life, everybody needs somebody. No one deserves to be alone. Nick and Skye were two people who experienced loss, both in their own way and they deserved a chance to be together.

I think I fell in love a little with Nick, like I do with all my characters. But wouldn’t you? If you saw this Marine, who would lay his life down for his country, without hesitation, give his life down for the woman he loved, without blinking, but he didn’t think he deserved to be happy or be loved. Wouldn’t you want to fix him?

And Skye, who spent her life trying to find that happiness she’d lost when her dad died, and she holds on so tight to this man, who can’t breathe because he feels he doesn’t deserve her love, you’re bound to want to help.

This story has passion, heat and lots of emotion and after writing it, I loved it because of the journey Nick and Skye took.

I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it and I want to thank my editor Monica Peters for making this the story it is.

I also want to thank my wonderful husband for his support and my children for their help, I couldn’t have finished this without you all.